Kaua (Fight)
by easytodancewith
Summary: Danny/Steve. Toward the beginning of 2x23, "Ua Hala (Death in the Family)," Danny's wrestling with how to handle the petition that would modify his custody agreement with his ex-wife. By the end of the episode, he's determined to do whatever it takes to keep his daughter on the island. Here's what happened in the interim.


Danny knew it was going to be a weird day from the moment he received the petition to modify his and Rachel's custody agreement before he'd even left for work, and his convictions were proven right when Captain Fryer was found dead in an alleyway in Manoa, Max got shot at the scene and the gunwoman summarily proceeded to blow up HPD headquarters before disappearing in a puff of smoke. And fire. And injured cops - Chin among them.

So when Danny's lawyer calls him back, it's kind of a good thing, a reprieve from the ceaseless shit piled upon shit that has been his day thus far - but by the same token, he's in the car with Steve, they're in the middle of a case and, to put it simply, it's _really_ not an optimal time to have this conversation.

"Uh," Danny shifts awkwardly in the passenger seat. "This is a private phone call that I have to take."

Steve stares at the phone in Danny's hand.

"You want me to cover my ears and drive with my knees?" he deadpans. "I can - you know what, I can put my head out of the window if you want, and drive with my feet. I got great toe control."

Danny doesn't need Steve's shit right now.

"This is costing me money," he notes, indicating the insistently ringing phone.

"Take the call!"

Steve makes a gesture that Danny thinks is meant to imply his partner won't be listening, although he's not sure he believes as much.

"Hello?" Danny picks up the phone against his better judgment. "Yeah, uh, thank you for calling me back. Did you have a chance to look at the... thing?"

Steve glances over at him, and for all the man's SEAL training, he's not being particularly stealthy at the moment. Danny meets his eyes and scowls before going back to focusing on what his lawyer's saying.

"OK, is there any way I can stop it? What can I do?"

Danny can see out of the corner of his eye that his partner's given up all pretense of not listening by this point. Steve's brow furrows as he watches Danny's face intently.

Nothing Danny's hearing is a surprise to him, but he'd hoped it would never come to this - going to war over his daughter like Grace is a possession, nothing more than one of the Williams family heirlooms Rachel had fought for tooth and nail during the divorce, just to spite him.

"Let me, uh, let me call you back because I have to seriously think about that, OK?" Danny can feel the beginnings of a headache gnawing at his temples. "Thank you. Bye."

He ends the call, clears his throat and descends into silence, hoping his partner will take the hint. Steve, being Steve, does not.

"So?"

Danny's hackles are raised from the conversation he just had, from the idea of the dark path down which he may be forced to travel just to preserve his relationship with the most important person in his life. He does _not_ want to discuss any of this right now.

"So, what?"

"You gonna tell me what that was about?" Steve persists.

"I already told you - it was private."

Steve's staring at him with this expression that's composed half of genuine worry and half of steely determination, and Danny finds both unsettling in equal measure.

"All right with the face," he snaps. "What are you gonna do - waterboard me until I tell you about my private phone call?"

"No, I'm just trying to get you to tell me 'cause we're friends and I - I'm concerned," Steve says defensively, raising his voice like he's kind of offended that Danny won't just lie back in the passenger seat and spill all his secrets.

"You mean you want me to share?" Danny inquires icily, his voice deathly calm.

"Yes!"

And, wow, OK, they're doing this.

"Share like _you_ do?" Danny clarifies. He continues without waiting for an answer, his voice getting louder with each word. "Here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna write you a letter, I'm gonna explain _nothing_ and then I'm gonna just _take off_ for a couple of weeks, OK? Maybe I'll come back, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll call you, maybe I won't. Stop me when any of this deviates from the Steve McGarrett Book of Sharing  & Caring because I would hate to disappoint you, Steve, really, given that you're such an expert."

"First of all, I had to go to Japan on my own, OK?" Steve protests, and Danny forgot that there's one set of rules for Steve McGarrett and another for the rest of the world. "You know I had to do that on my own."

"There is no _my own_ in a friendship."

Steve's staring at him like he suddenly switched to Japanese - except, wait, Steve can speak Japanese.

"There is no _my own_ ," Danny repeats slowly, hoping the words will penetrate Steve's skull this time. "You want to call us friends? Then your problems become my problems."

He's expecting Steve to shut down on him, to either steer the conversation back to the case or just stop talking altogether, but Steve surprises him by meeting his eyes again and asking, "So, what's the problem?"

Danny squares his jaw.

"The problem," he grits out reluctantly, "is that Stan just got a project in Las Vegas and they want to move, OK? Rachel wants to take Grace off the island."

Steve's the first person Danny's said those words to - with the exception of his lawyer - and each time, the situation becomes a little more surreal. Danny thinks he might be in shock.

"What, are you supposed to follow Stan and his projects wherever he goes?!" Steve demands, voice raised.

For a second, it's like their roles are reversed here: Steve's the one losing his shit while Danny's lost in a dreamlike state of denial. Well, more of a nightmare.

"I'm not going anywhere, OK?" Danny assures him, and Steve says "Good" too quickly, like his fear of losing Danny mirrors Danny's fear of losing Grace.

"That was my lawyer," Danny explains, "and I am trying to figure out how I'm going to fight this thing."

Steve exhales. "What are your chances?"

"I got a good case, but I - you know, it's gonna get ugly," Danny admits. "I've gotta drag Rachel through the mud, and I'm not sure I want to do that."

Steve nods thoughtfully, looks out of the window and refuses to meet Danny's eyes for a while, which is just fine with Danny.

"You're right," Steve says finally, breaking his silence.

Of all the weird things that have happened today, this may just take the cake, because Steve's ego doesn't _let_ him admit Danny's right, not _ever_. Danny mentally counts the days since Steve's last concussion and wonders about the possibility of lingering damage.

"...Excuse me?" he demands.

Steve follows up his bombshell by taking a turn at a normal speed and actually checking his rearview mirror - two actions that, coming from him, scare Danny _deeply_.

"Seriously, Steven, what the hell are you talking about?!"

Steve sighs and looks pained about having to go into any more detail. "I realize I put you in a shitty situation, Danny. You and Chin and Kono -"

"And Grace," Danny says flatly, doing his best to keep any emotion out of his voice. "She wanted to know where her Uncle Steve was, when he'd be back, what he was doing. I didn't know what to tell her."

Steve gets this expression on his face that Danny's never seen before, a mix of shame and fury and immense, immense regret.

"You were right, OK? About friendships. Relationships. But it's easier said than done, you know? I'm not a sharer. I'm not a heart-on-my-sleeve kind of guy, Danny. But I do want…" The strain in his voice is palpable, and he swallows before continuing, "I want you to be able to tell me these things, babe. I don't want you facing shit like this on your own."

"I didn't want you facing shit like going after Shelburne on your own, but I didn't get a choice," Danny counters, trying not to sound too bitter. He just has a thing about people turning on him, OK? Pulling the carpet out from under him. That's understandable, right?

Steve clears his throat. "I hope you know we're gonna fight for her with everything we have, Danny."

Danny blinks. "Uh... we?"

"Grace is happy here," Steve continues. "She's settled. She's got her dad and her friends and that academy she goes to with the tuition fees that are higher than UH's. You can't take this lying down. I know you don't wanna make things harder than you have to for Rachel, but she threw the first punch - at this point, you're totally justified in defending yourself."

Danny doesn't say anything for a few moments, too busy battling the rising lump of emotion in his throat. He knew Steve had grown to love his little girl, but he wasn't expecting a speech like that.

Steve glances at him again, then lifts the hand that isn't on the steering wheel and places it firmly on top of Danny's. Danny turns his palm upward and laces his fingers through Steve's.

 **xXx**

"Where are we going, Danno?"

Danny parks at the edge of the Kalanianaole Highway and leads Grace over to one of the many lookouts along the road.

"This is, without question, the most beautiful view on planet Earth." He sits on the short wall at the edge of the lookout and beckons for her to do the same. "This is a very special place. I actually came here my very first day on Hawaii."

"Really?" she asks wonderingly.

"Yeah. I mean, it was an accident. See, I was driving around, and I got lost."

He can practically imagine Steve rolling his eyes at him, asking how he could get lost on an island more than ten times smaller than the state of New Jersey.

"Getting lost is very hard to do on an island," he continues wryly, "but I managed to figure it out. Anyway, I ran out of gas and I ended up sitting right here, looking out at this beautiful view, but the only thing I could think about was how homesick I was. I'd only been here half a day, and I was already homesick. But then I looked out and I said, 'You know, a view this beautiful, maybe this rock ain't so bad, huh?'"

Grace nods pensively.

"Then I came to my senses and I realized the only way this place would be tolerable was if I got to be here with you," Danny tells her, doing his damnedest not to choke up. "That's the most important thing to me, and that's never gonna change, monkey, OK?"

Grace nods again, and this time she smiles, too - a smile that hits Danny right in the heart every time. He squeezes her shoulder and stands up.

"All right, I'll be right back. I gotta make a quick phone call, OK? You stay here and enjoy the view."

He strides purposefully back to the car, glances back at Grace silhouetted by the blazing sun, then leans through the driver's-side window to grab his phone. Rachel doesn't pick up, of course - she's been avoiding contact since the custody modification documents were delivered - but he's fine with getting her voicemail. At least this way she won't interrupt him.

"Hey, Rachel, it's Danny. Listen, you know, I - uh, I really didn't want it to come to this, but you're leaving me no choice: I'm gonna contest the custody modification." He exhales steadily, then thinks of Grace's smile, of Steve's firm grasp. "There is zero chance I'm letting you take Grace away from me. Not without a fight."


End file.
